


Superhero AU

by motorbike_on_the_avenue



Series: 30 days cheesy tropes challenge [10]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 30 Day Cheesy Tropes Challenge, Alternate Universe, Superhero Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2018-10-24 16:36:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10745610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/motorbike_on_the_avenue/pseuds/motorbike_on_the_avenue
Summary: The Council assigns each town a superhero to stop it being over run with crime.Angel is the Superhero for Dean's town.And Dean really needs to stop putting himself in dangerous situations to get Angel's attention.





	1. Chapter 1

Dean really had to stop doing this.

He knew it was wrong. That one day something might happen which would mean Dean would have put his life at risk for no reason.

That one night Dean’s life might not be the most important thing, which would effectively end it.

And yet, he still found himself sneaking down alleyways and tuning into the local police departments radio so he could find out what was going on.

It takes half an hour before something he can use comes to his attention. There’s a guy holding up a grocery store, just a couple of miles from Dean’s hiding place.

It takes Dean less than five minutes to get there in his trusty car. He pulls into a spot in the parking lot, then turns the engine off. He can see the guy inside, holding a gun. Thanks to the police radio, Dean knows that the guy’s got four hostages inside.

Dean slips a woollen hat over his head, with badly cut eye and nose holes. Then he slinks from the car, over to the shop entrance. He knows the police are still five minutes out.

Enough time for him.

Checking to make sure the criminal is still occupied at the front, Dean fiddles around with the door lock.

Damn. It’s an automatic door, and locked from the inside. Dean can’t get inside.

Well, this has never happened before.

‘Mr. Winchester,’ comes a voice from behind him, and Dean grins. Obviously, it didn’t matter that he can’t get inside, and put himself in the middle of the action, like usual.

‘Hey, man, I’ve told you to call me Dean.’ Dean turns then, smiling at the guy speaking to him. The local superhero. The guy who saves people.

Angel has been running around the town for a couple of years now.

Dean’s been in love with him for a few months now. A couple of months after Angel first started making headlines, Dean’s little brother, Sam, was obsessed with him. He talked about nothing else – he wanted to know the superhero who could actually fly, Dean, he could fly, and who saved people, and wasn’t he just amazing?

Dean had laughed. Sure, it was a good thing that the crime riddled town they lived in now had someone who apparently deemed them worth saving. Yes, it was cool that they’d finally got their very own Superhero after years of them writing to the council.

But Dean hadn’t been that bothered about Angel. Okay he was attractive – well what could be seen of him under the big black wings, and the black eye mask – but in the way that people on TV were attractive.

But then Sammy’s birthday had come up. Dean didn’t really have a lot of money to get him anything.

He’d come up with the idea of getting Angel’s autograph. He’d stolen one of his Uncle Bobby’s police walkie talkies, and spent a week holed up in his bedroom, listening to the thing. He couldn’t go to anything too far away, didn’t want to get involved in anything that could actually result in his murder.

He ended up on the roadside of a car accident. Angel had already swooped in and saved a few people from the six car pile-up, standing them at the side of the road. Dean knew he always liked to make sure the victims were alright after he saved them. Heal them of any injuries they might have. 

When Angel got to him, he’d frowned.

‘You weren’t in the accident,’ he’d said.

‘No,’ Dean had said. His mouth had gone dry, as he stared into those blue eyes that had everyone in their town talking. Dean had heard girls in his high school gossiping about them. Someone had come in having been saved by Angel, and they’d been the most popular person in school for the rest of the month. ‘But I wanted to ask you something. It’s my brothers’ birthday in a few days. You’re his idol. Could I get an autograph?’ Dean had felt stupid asking for it, but the excited look on Sammy’s face would be worth it.

‘An autograph?’ Angel had asked. ‘I haven’t been asked for one before.’ Dean knew it was a long shot. Superheroes – well most of them anyway some towns reported that their Superheroes were like a local celebrity always singing photos and opening local hospitals and stuff like that – generally just got on with the job of saving people and then leaving, back to their secret lair, or wherever it was they stayed.

‘Well, it would really mean a lot to my brother. He’s your biggest fan.’ Angel had frowned at him a little.

‘I don’t have anything to sign on me right now,’ Angel had said, and Dean had felt stupid. Of course he didn’t carry around photos of himself. And Dean hadn’t really thought it through. He didn’t have anything for Angel to sign either. ‘Give me your address,’ Angel had asked, and Dean had given it to him.

When Angel turned up on Sam’s birthday, and spent a whole hour answering Sam’s endless questions, Dean had found himself falling a little bit.

Which was kind of how he kept ending up in these situations.

Like now.

‘Dean,’ Angel says. ‘Now really isn’t a good time.’ His gaze shifts to the scene inside where the guy with the gun is waving it around.

‘I know,’ Dean says. ‘Just promise you’ll stick around after. I’d like to talk to you.’

Over the past year, since Sammy’s birthday Dean’s been putting himself in Angel’s way more and more. He kept the police scanner, and whenever he gets the chance he goes down to the scene. Usually putting himself in the middle of it, because Angel used to refuse to talk to him if he hadn’t actually been rescued.

When Angel realised that Dean was then putting himself in danger just so they could talk for a few minutes, he’d stopped speaking to him altogether.

When he realised Dean was tempted to put himself in actual harm’s way – he hadn’t been really, just had a fleeting thought that he could run into the burning building Angel was saving people from – he’d been forced to end the silent treatment.

They’d been hanging out whenever Dean turned up at one of Angels night time heroism for a few months now. They’d wander to an empty park, where they’d keep up a casual conversation. Dean made sure to keep his thoughts natural because he knew Angel could read them. Angel had confessed to Dean that he didn’t like to read people’s thoughts, that he kept that superhero power from rearing its head too often.

And then Dean had done something stupid last night. They’d been sitting on the swings like usual. Dean was sitting sideways and swinging a little bit, in theory just being the stupid 18-year-old he was, but in reality, giving his heart a little stuttering jump every time he moved into Angel’s personal space.

So, Dean had a big fat crush on the guy. So sue him. He’d looked up Angel’s personal records on the Superhero Council website. (The Council were the ones who kept tabs on Superheroes. If you were born with powers you were sent straight to them, so they could show you how to deal with them and train you up. Once you turned 18 they assigned you to be a town’s own personal superhero. Dean had felt a little sorry for Angel when he’d first been assigned this crappy place. Now he was just grateful.) The website listed the ages of all the Superheroes they had, as well as a page of facts about them. Nothing too personal, not like real names, just a few likes and dislikes and a list of all the heroic things they did. Kids were usually assigned projects on their heroes in school.

It has Angel’s age. He was 19 years old, so not too old for Dean. Just right in fact. Sure he was a little young for a Superhero, but as Dean’s Dad pointed out the town was desperate for one. They didn’t care who it was, what they’d done – they just needed a symbol of hope.

Last night, Dean had tried to kiss Angel. Leaned his swing just a little bit further in, and pusher their lips together, with the metal swing chain digging into his chest.

It was kind of awesome.

Before Angel had pushed him off, and flown away.

‘Fine. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid,’ Angel says. Dean nods, and then watches as Angel whooshes away, only to reappear at the front of the store.    

It takes less than ten seconds for Angel to have the guy with the gun in handcuffs. There’s a bit of waiting around while the people inside hug and cry around Angel.

That makes Dean smile.

It’s another few minutes before the police arrive to arrest the guy with the gun. Dean’s hiding in the shadows so he won’t be seen. A few of the police are starting to give him suspicious looks when he turns up at crime scenes now, hence the mask. But all he needs is to be mistaken for someone involved in the actual crime. They take statements from the hostages, and Angel waits at the side, until everyone clears out from the store.

Then he reappears beside Dean.

‘We should talk,’ Angel says. They walk in silence to the local park. Dean wants to say something, but he’s the one in the wrong here.

Well, not in the wrong. There was nothing wrong with what Dean did.

They reach the swings again, but Angel doesn’t sit on one. Dean stands next to him.

‘Dean. I don’t…I’m not sure how to start this,’ Angel says. He’s frowning, the black eye mask he wears creasing slightly in the middle. ‘Superheroes are not raised for romantic relationships.’

‘Yeah, but just because you’re not raised for it, doesn’t mean you can’t have one,’ Dean says.

‘Is that what you’re offering here Dean? A relationship?’ Angel asks.

‘Well, I was thinking a couple of dates first, see how things go. We don’t have to rush into anything.’

‘Really Dean? You want to go walking down the street with me? Let everyone know that you’re dating the Superhero?’ Angels voice takes on a scathing tone. ‘Is that what this is?’

‘Look, man, I know this might be hard to understand. But I like you. I don’t want to date you cause you’re the Superhero, you know I couldn’t give a crap about that stuff. And I’ve read the handbook – I know you can hide those wings if you wanted, know you could walk down this street like a normal man.’

‘Is that what you’re asking for?’

‘Angel, man, I’m asking for you. That’s all I want. If you don’t want to tell me your real name, or show me who you are under the mask, that’s fine. It’s up to you.’ This isn’t the first-time Dean’s put his heart on the line.

But all those ended, and this is hopefully a beginning. ‘Look, if you don’t want this, then you’ve got to tell me. I’ll stay away.’

‘Will you?’ Angel says, his mouth twisting in a smirk. ‘No matter what happens Dean, I need to know you’ll stop putting yourself in danger. I can’t be worrying about you every night.’

‘I know, I’ll stop. Trust me I don’t want to be your Louis Lane, or Mary Jane.’

‘My what?’ Angel says, frowning. Dean laughs.

‘I’ll show you sometime. If you want.’ The wind picks up around them, stirring the wings in Angel’s feathers.

‘I need to think about this Dean. It’s a big thing.’

‘Okay,’ Dean says. He tries to perk himself up – it’s not a yes, but it’s not a no either. Sure, Dean would have loved it if Angel had just gathered him up in his wings and kissed him stupid, but he knows Angel isn’t like that. He wouldn’t let his emotions get in the way.

‘Dean. It’s not that I don’t want this. But being with a Superhero, well, you must know how hard that can be. It’s dangerous situations I put myself in every night.’

‘I know, I get that. I can deal with that.’ Dean’s not going to put anything in the way of what this could be. He hasn’t really thought what being boyfriends with Angel would be like. Fretting every night that Angel could get himself hurt – he’s had a few run ins before, where he’s ended up wounded. Angel’s told him about the team he’s got working for him back in his secret lair, who patch him up.

Although he always rolls his eyes when Dean calls it a lair and tells him not to call it that.

‘I’ll let you know my choice tomorrow,’ Angel says.

And then he’s away, just a spot in the distance, flying over the buildings.

 

Dean’s walking down the street back to his car. He’s walking slowly, hands in his pockets, kicking the pavements.

There’s a rustle behind him, and Dean feels his body tensing. He spins around, coming face to face with a man. There’s messy black hair, and a lean body in a trench coat. Bright blue eyes that are staring at him from under thick lashes.

Dean grins.

‘Hello, Dean,’ comes the familiar voice. ‘My name is Castiel. It’s very nice to meet you.’


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another extended one-shot!   
> I hope you like this one. It was written quickly, so if there are any mistakes, sorry!

‘You alright?’ Dean asked Castiel. His boyfriend – the term he only used in his head. He hadn’t dared say it out loud yet, even though they’d been dating for two months now – was shifting around on the grass. Castiel’s blue eyed gaze was flickering from one group of people to the next rapidly – the teenagers sunbathing and gossiping, the boys pretending to play football while watching the girls sunbathing, the families in the playground.

‘Of course,’ Cas said.

‘Are you sure?’ Dean asked. ‘We can go if you want.’ For two months they’ve been dating under cover. Either late at night, after Castiel’s superhero duties are over, when the streets are quiet and they can walk around and not be noticed by anyone, or hiding away in Dean’s bedroom, talking while the flicking light of the TV washes over them.

‘Of course,’ Cas said. He stopped his fingers from twitching next to him, lying a hand over Dean’s on the ground between them. ‘I need to get used to being out and about. Not spending most of my time in -,’

‘In the lair,’ Dean said, interrupting Cas. Cas gave a small sigh, but didn’t correct him. He still won’t call where he spends all of his time his ‘lair’ but Dean can’t think of a better name for it. He’s sure he’ll persuade Cas around to his way of thinking eventually.

‘I do spend the majority of my time down there. And, as you’ve been showing me, getting to know my town will help. None of the TV shows we’ve watched have the hero sulking back to his home when he’s not needed. They have jobs. They get involved in the local community.’

‘We’ll have to come up with a backstory for you,’ Dean said. ‘Unless you’ve changed your mind and want people to know who you are?’ Cas shakes his head, looking scared at the thought.

It’s not illegal for Superhero’s to let the town they’re protecting know who they really are. Since they’re sent to a training facility from birth all their records are kept on the online database. Once they’ve been assigned to a town, they can choose whether to make that information public or not. Like choosing to put your phone number on record.

Not many do though. It would be too easy for the bad guys to find them.

‘I already have a backstory,’ Cas said, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. He lets go of Dean’s hand to do so, and even though it’s a warm day, Dean’s hand feels cold. It’s always like this – like no part of him is really connected to the world, unless he’s connected to Cas.

‘One of my team came up with it about a year ago. It hasn’t been used much.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Dean asks. He takes the driving license Cas is now holding out to him, studying it. ‘Castiel Novak’ is printed as the name. There’s an address given for a block of flats just on the edge of town.

‘Is that where you live?’ Dean said. If Cas does have a home, he’s never been invited into it. They have to sneak Cas into Dean’s home – which is easy, considering Cas can just transport himself in and out of Dean’s room as he wishes.

Dean wishes Cas did it a lot more.

‘No. It’s the flat of one of my team members. If anyone asks I’m her cousin who’s come to stay with her after a bad relationship went wrong.’ Superhero’s are given a small amount of money from The Council, to live on. They’re expected to drop everything as soon as trouble starts, so they can’t really keep a 9 to 5. They’re expected to find their own places to live, their own way to pass time.

‘And where did she come from?’ Dean asked, wondering about this woman Cas mentioned, who he’s living with. He’s not jealous, exactly, but he knows nothing about the team Cas spends his time with. Cas is adamant that Dean not get involved in his crime fighting life, even if Dean can hold his own. He’s been taking lessons with his Dad since he was young, learning how to take care of himself. The town he grew up in has always been crawling with dirt bags, and is known for its thriving criminal underworld.

Angel – Cas’s super hero alter ego – has been cleaning up the streets since he’s been here, and doing a great job. Even if Cas doesn’t believe it.

The problem is there’s a lot of bad people in this town, and more seem to crop up every week. Cas – Angel – is doing his best, but he’s never going to be able to destroy everyone, not when he also wants to save people from accidents like car crashes and burning buildings.

‘She came from The Council with me and the rest of my team,’ Cas said now. He plucks the driving license back from Dean, putting it away.

‘You really get to pick the team you want to take with you?’ Dean asked. The Council, this worldwide organization with a branch in every capital city of the world keeps its ways to itself. Unless you get a job there, or are one of the superhero’s sent there from birth to be trained, your knowledge about it comes from rumours.

One of those rumours say that more than Superhero’s are trained there. That children who show aptitude in other skills are sometimes watched and then approached when they reach their teenage years to leave and go and be trained at The Council. Rumours of kids disappearing overnight, their families gone with them.

Dean once heard that children’s homes are scouted for children. The Council thinks it can do a better job offering a child with no parents a future working for a Super hero instead.

‘You do,’ Cas said. He’s relaxing more now, squinting in the heavy sunlight, shifting closer to Dean on the grass, so their knees are touching. He still does a quick check around them to make sure they won’t be heard, even though his heighted senses would alert him to anything. ‘They needed someone for this town quickly, and as I’d just turned 17, I was offered it. I’d made friends there, friends who I didn’t want to leave. Of course, I picked them to come with me.’

‘Did they get a choice?’ Dean asked. Not all the rumours about The Council are happy. Whispers say it’s a horrible place to grow up, that they only care about making machines, feeding the egos of those born with powers. Taking children away from their parents.

Cas hesitates.

‘If a Superhero chooses you to come with them, you are allowed to say no. Most don’t.’ Cas leaves it at that, but Dean swears he can see the shadows in his blue eyes, memories of his past that leave unseen scars.

Dean will ask them about them one day. But not yet. ‘The friendships you make while growing up are for life. Once you become a town Superhero, you might not see those with powers again. Anything can happen when you spend your life protecting people.’ Dean swallows, and looks away quickly. He doesn’t want to remember that night last week. Cas hadn’t been answering his cell and Dean’s panic had grown over the course of five hours. Cas was never very good at answering his phone calls, but there was usually a brief text back, letting Dean know he was okay.

Once Dean had turned his stolen police scanner on, and heard where the crime was – a gang fight between two rival gangs, totalling around 27 members all together – and that Angel had been the first to arrive on the scene, he’d run to the hospital.

Cas wasn’t there. He’d disappeared to his lair, to be patched up there, but Dean had waited, pacing. He’d made a vow to make Cas tell him where his lair was.

Cas had shown up around 6am, in Dean’s bedroom. He’d winced a little when he moved but his team had saved him from the bullet in his side.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if Angel had flown off as soon as he’d been hit, but he’d waited until the police had shown up to take over, trying to still protect anyone from killing.

Dean knew what dating Angel meant. So he swallowed his questions and his anger, just making sure his boyfriend was alright. If he lost him…

Dean didn’t want to think about it. Even if the stats were online for him to look up. 57% of heroes met their ends at the hands of criminals. They were too slow, too tracked, too caught out. ‘I was lucky. I connected most with people from other training programs.’ The rumours were true then. Superheroes had a team that they built up themselves. ‘I was even luckier than most. My friends had finished their training pretty close to mine, and were all just waiting to be picked. We never spoke about it, leaving The Council, but sometimes I wonder if we were all working towards my 17th birthday.’ Dean knew that was when Superhero’s training was considering finished. Seventeen years and you were deemed mature and responsible enough to have people’s lives in your hands.

‘How many are in your team?’ Dean asked. Cas had never opened up like this. Not about him being Angel anyway. Dean wanted every bit of information he could get about Cas, the man – his favourite colour, favourite flavour of ice cream, anything he could think of – but being Angel was part of being Cas. It was what he spent his life training for. It was what made him, him; the weight he carried on his shoulders when something went wrong, the energy blazing in his eyes whenever a fight was upon him, the gentleness to him whenever he was healing someone. Even covered with a black mask, and his wings hiding half his face in shadow, you could see those things about him.   

‘Four including me,’ Cas said. ‘Another man and two women.’ Dean nodded, but left the question there. If dating Cas was going to be a lasting thing in his life – and he wanted it to be – he’d get to know these people. ‘Speaking of…,’ Cas said, his last words trailing off. His eyes were fixed on a point in the distance. Dean followed his gaze. He had to wait a few seconds before the figure approaching them came in focus, but Cas obviously already knew who it was.

‘I’m sorry, Dean. As much as I’m enjoying this, and I am, I feel we may have to cut our afternoon short.’ Cas stood up, Dean following him to wait for the newcomer to arrive.

A woman with bright red hair, a nervous smile on her face, clutching a tablet in her hand approached them.

‘Cas, I’m so sorry. I know how much you were looking forward to this – well, how much you look forward to any time with Dean – but we need you. I need you,’ she said, eyes going wide at the end. ‘There’s a problem with my flat, and you’re the only one who can fix it.’

‘It’s fine,’ Cas said. ‘Dean knows who I am. Charlie meet Dean. Dean, Charlie. Castiel Novak’s cousin.’

‘Hi!’ Charlie said, extending her hand to shake. ‘It’s good to finally meet you. The one who’s bringing Cas out of his shell.’ She’s grinning at Dean now, nervous smile gone.

‘What do you mean good to finally meet him?’ Cas said. ‘I’ve never mentioned him to you.’ He’s frowning at Charlie, who now looks like a rabbit in headlights. ‘Have you been checking up on me?’ Cas asked.

‘Like a little bit,’ Charlie said. ‘And you knew when you asked me to come be on your team that you’d never be able to have a secret. You started disappearing from the lair, and you were smiling more. I know you’re a private person, Cas, know that you have to be so no one finds out about you, but I needed to know.’ Dean looks between Cas and Charlie. Cas has got his guarded face on, the one where no expression shows through. Dean thinks Cas could be dying and he’d still have that face on if it meant no one would know how much pain he was in. ‘You’re not really mad at me, are you? I only wanted to make sure you were okay. And then that Dean was a good person. I didn’t want to see you get hurt,’ Charlie said, poking Cas gently on the arm. Dean makes a mental note that Charlie calls their secret place a lair too.

‘I’m not mad,’ Cas said after a second. ‘You are correct. You did tell me when I asked you to be on my team that I’d never be able to hide anything from you. You gave me fair warning.’ Charlie smiles again. ‘What’s so important that you need to interrupt my date with Dean?’ Cas asked.

‘Oh.’ Charlie looks at Dean, then looks away again. Dean’s in the circle, but he’s not in the inner circle. He gets that. He’s prepared to be looked at suspiciously and judged until he’s won everyone over.               

He’s in this for the long haul. ‘Here.’ Charlie hands her tablet over to Cas who reads it, expression darkening. ‘We found them.’

‘Okay.’ Cas nods once, then turns to Dean. ‘Dean. I’m sorry, but I have to go. It might be a late one, but I’ll check in later. I promise.’ He leans forward to give Dean a kiss on the cheek, before a quick look around. No one is paying any attention to their little group, and in one more second Cas has left them, whooshing away to who knows where.

‘I am sorry,’ Charlie said to Dean. ‘There’s some stuff we’ve got going on. I did try to call him but this seems to be the one place in town where signal doesn’t reach.’ She shakes her head. ‘I should go back. Angel might need me and I’m the only one who can run tech.’ She raises her tablet in a farewell gesture, before leaning in. ‘Oh, and Dean. I did a lot of research to find out who was dating Cas. You check out, but if you break his heart the full force of the team will come down on you. We’d be willing to die for him. And to kill.’ She draws back and although there’s a hint of laughter in her eyes, Dean can also see the iron.

Whatever Cas’s team have been through together, they’re a family. And you protect your family.

‘I won’t,’ Dean said. ‘I won’t hurt him.’ Charlie nods.

‘Yay! Then I hope we’ll be seeing more of you in the future. Don’t be a stranger!’ she said. She turned, walking back down the path she came on, eyes glued to her tablet and fixing a headset to her ears, already talking down the microphone.

Dean watches her go, then squints into the cloudless blue sky, to see if he can spot the tiny figure with black wings he knows is out there somewhere.


End file.
